Abortion provider can't find facility that complies with law

AUSTIN -- The leader of the biggest independent abortion provider in Texas told a federal judge Tuesday that she thinks it may be impossible for her to open another facility that complies with the tight restrictions approved by lawmakers last summer.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, president and CEO and Whole Woman's Health, which now operates two abortion clinics after closting three due to the requirements of House Bill 2, testified in a lawsuit over the law that an "exhaustive search" by her staff for facilities that could meet the restrictions has not yet succeeded.

Part of the problem is that the organization has been rejected for financing from more than a dozen banks who view helping abortion providers in Texas as too risky, said Miller, one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Among other items, House Bill 2 requires that abortion doctors obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they perform the procedures, and that abortion facilities meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. The admitting privileges requirement started last fall, while the surgical center standard requirement takes effect next month.

Only a half dozen of the roughly 20 remaining abortion clinics meet the ambulatory surgical center standards, making it important for abortion-rights supporters to find new sites.

Miller told U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel that her staff unsuccessfully searched the state for all facilities that could be meet ASC standards within 30 miles of a hospital where one of the organization's doctor had admitting privileges.

A site in Austin looked promising until the discovery of a clause in the deed prevented any abortions from being performed on the premises, Miller said. One Fort Worth location was not big enough and another was too big for the organization to afford. A third spot in that city was an option, but requests for financing from 15 banks so far have been rejected, Miller said.

The organization even inquired about the possibility of purchasing a mobile clinic that met standards, Miller said, but a request for approval from the state has gone unanswered.

The testimony came toward the end of a day and a half of arguments from abortion providers who are trying to convince Yeakel to stop the surgical center standard requirement from take effect Sept. 1, and exempt the McAllen and El Paso areas from the admitting privileges requirement.

Miller was the longest of any of the 11 witnesses called by the providers, answering a lengthy list of cross-examination questions from state lawyers who argue that the law is improving the safety of Texas women and could be met by providers who wished to do so.

She also testified that state regulators have gotten tougher on Whole Woman's Health since the organization joined an effort against House Bill 2. State regulators have become "very adversarial, uncomfortable, disruptive," she said.

A request for comment to the Department of State Health Services was not immediately returned.

The providers essentially rested their case Tuesday afternoon. The state will get its own day and a half of witnesses before the trial wraps up Thursday.